After graduation at the age of seventeen, a family misfortune occurred. As the eldest of the family, the entire responsibility of financial support fell upon her. The father had been stricken with paralysis, and her mother became a confirmed invalid. Soon after, her first published story appeared, and, being asked for others, she supplied one hundred during the next three years. She besieged the story paper offices of Boston with sketches and novelettes. The competition was not so great then as it later became, but it required almost incessant work — she sometimes wrote for fifteen hours a day — to cover the expenses of the family. The pay was small, and when it was reduced from to , she declined to send more. Her stories of those days were never collected or acknowledged. Her wide reputation was acquired almost at a stroke. In 1859, she sent to the
Atlantic Monthly a story entitled "In a Cellar."
James Russell Lowell was at that time editor of the
Atlantic and at first declined to believe that any young lady could have written such a brilliant and characteristic description of
Bohemian
Parisian life; he insisted that it must be a translation from the French. Upon being assured of its genuineness, he not only printed the story, but also sent its author a check for with a letter of commendation. The endorsement of the
Atlantic opened all other U.S. magazine offices to its writers, allowing her to become a welcome contributor to the chief periodicals of the country, both in prose and poetry. Her first novel, ''Sir Rohan's Ghost
, published in 1859 in Boston, was a very striking work that showed her talent for skillful plot and effective dramatic denouement, as well as a few flaws, e.g., a crudeness of thought and expression apparent, that she overcame as she gained experience. This book was reviewed at some length in the Crayon'', an art journal then published in
New York City. She was an important early female writer of mystery fiction, with her stories "In a Cellar" (1859), "Mr. Furbush" (1865), and "In the Maguerriwock" (1868). Spofford's later works were:
The Amber Gods and Other Stories, published in Boston, 1863;
Azarim, in 1864;
New England Legends, in 1871;
The Thief in the Night, in 1872;
Art Decoration Applied to Furniture, published in New York in 1881;
Marquis of Carabas, Boston, 1872; ''Hester Stanley at St. Mark's
, 1883 ; The Servant Girl Question
, 1884; and Ballads about Authors'', 1888. In addition to Spofford's prolific prose, she wrote poems and ballads. ==Style and reception==